Cleansing article



H i937 G. W. BROOKS 2,079,600

CLEANS ING ARTICLE Filed Feb. 1o, y19:56

Patented May 1l., 1 93'11.

PATENT ori-ICE CLEAN SING ARTICLE George W. Brooks, La Grange, Ill.,assignor to The S. 0. S. Company, Chicago, lll., a corporation ofDelaware Application February 10, 1936, Serial No. 63,133

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to the art of cleansing articles.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide a novel cleansingarticle of the type composed of a mass of metallic bres or filaments andsoap.

In the use of cleansing articles composed of metal bres, usuallydesignated "steel wool although the bres may be of any metal desired oreven of non-metallic substance but having the physical characteristicsof metal fibres, and a distribution of soap throughout the brous massand adhering to or held thereinby the iibres, the soap component becomesused up when the metallic wool part has been only partly used up.

The present invention comprehends as a novel feature thereof a doubledistribution of soap in the wool mass with a double interspersion ofvoids affording access of water to the soap, the soap of onedistribution being in the outer portion of the wool mass and near and atthe working surface thereof to act as .an immediate or primary supply ofsoap, and the soap of the other distribution being located within thewool mass to act as a reservoir or secondary supply of soap for theprimary supply surrounding it.

The broader aspects of my invention include any one of various forms ofpad in which the concentration and/or activity of thesoap in the innerportion is different.

The preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a pad or body ofmetal wool iibres'having soap of the same character distributedthroughout its extent in two different concentrations in two distinctportions of the pad. The inner portion of the pad is provided with asoap concentration of greater density than that of the outer portion,and said outer portion wholly encloses said inner portion, the greaterpart of the soap in each portion being in the form of coatings aboutmost of the fibres and. so arranged as to provide spaces between thecoated fibres. The coatings are thicker in the inner portion to providethe denser soap concentration and hence a reserve supply of soap for theouter portion of the pad. f

Other objects, capabilities, advantages, features and the like arecomprehended by the invention as will later appear and as are inherentlypossessed by the invention.

In the drawing;

Fig. 1 is a horizontal sectional view'taken in a plane represented byline l-l in Fig. 2 of the drawing;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken in a plane represented by line2--2 inFig. l o! the drawing;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view on a greatly enlarged scaleshowing the diierence between the soap portions and voids in thesecondary and primary supplies or distributions.

Referring more in detail to the drawing, the various embodiments of myinvention are shown in the conventional form of a pad of 'compressedmetal wool or laments and soap 4associated therewith, as agglutinatedthereto or held thereby, the product having a texture or skeletalstructure, somewhat like a sponge, with innumerable interspersed voids Iand la, the concentration' of the soap in the inner portion beinggreater than in the outer portion of the article, the steel woolfilaments 2 acting as the supporting or reinforcing means with which thesoap 3 and 3E has become associated.

The association ol the soap with the steel wool bres or filaments doesnot appear to be regular but seems to be in the form of coatings 3 and3a.

` The soap may so agglutinate or coalesce as to adhere or cling to twoor more filaments or may break away from said filaments and thus appearto be suspended or held between or among two or more steel wool bres orfilaments. The form of these associated coatings are varied, in somecases seeming to be filmy, in others lamentous, and others granular.These concentrated coatings are small and in this invention are notgreater in size than grains of wheat lor rice or the like. These soapcoatings assist in protecting the steel Wool filaments from rusting orcorro'ding or the like.

In the case where the same kind of soap is used throughout and where thesoap coatings are of the same size in one distribution as in the other,the coatings 3a of the secondary supply are more to a unit of volumethan in the primary supply so that voids l of the primary supply averagelarger than the voids i in the secondary supply.

The distribution may be different in that the soap coatings 3a of thesecondary supply may be generally larger in size than the portions 3 inthe primary supply, and distributed in number equal to or lesser orgreater than the number in the primary supply per unit of volume, but inany case the concentration of the secondary soap supply is greater thanthe primary soap supply, and the voids I will vary accordingly.

In the case where the soap of the secondary supply is different such asslower to dissolve etc., the soap coatings 3a may be of the same size orsmaller or larger than the coatings I of the primary supply and withdiil'erent possible distributions as to number and corresponding voids.but in any case the activity of the secondary supply is dilferent thanthat of the primary supply.

In use the article is wetted with water so that the water will permeatethrough the voids or part of them so as to dissolve some of the soap.particularly the coatings 3 to form a soap solution and suds. Thearticle is then applied to the surface of the object to be cleansed,only a part of the coatings 3 dissolving and being used up, the metalllbres or laments functioning to mechanically cut or scrape the dirt andthe like to be removed. As the primary soap coatings 3 become dissolvedand used up some of the soap coatings 3* will be softened by the waterand will feed into the adjacent portion of the wool mass andagglutinate, on drying, to the filaments thereof to gradually replace orreplenish the soap coatings already dissolved and used up. In this waythe pad has a longer life so that by the time the soap in the secondarysupply or distribution becomes exhausted or used up, the wool mass alsohas become used up.

This is in part a continuation of my co-pending application Serial No.740,606, led Aug. 20, 1934 for Cleansing article, to become abandoned.

The advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art to which the invention belongs. An importantadvantage is that it furnishes soap in a readily dissolvable form ascontrasted with a cake of soap or a plurality of chunks of soap, and atthe same time provides a exible or yieldable pad.

Having thus explained the nature of the invention and described anoperative manner of constructing and using the same, although withoutattempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made, or allof the forms of its use, what is claimed is:-

l. A combined metal wool and soap cleaning pad comprising a body ofmetal wool with soap distributed throughout its extent in two distinctportions, one portion entirely inclosing and surrounding the other toprovide an inner and an outer portion, most of the soap in each portionbeing inthe form of coatings about substantially all of the metal ilbresand providing voids be-v tween the coated libres, the soap coatings inthe inner portion being appreciably thicker to provide an innerconcentration of a greater density of soap and hence a reserve soapsupply for the outer portion of the pad.

2. A combined metal wool and soap cleaning pad comprising a homogeneousbody of metal wool with soap distributed throughout its extent in twodistinct portions, one portion entirely inclosing and surrounding theother to provide an inner and an outer portion, most of vthe soap ineach portion being in the form of coatings about substantially all ofthe metal fibres and providing voids between the coated fibres, the soapcoatings in the inner portion being appreciably thicker to provide aninner concentration of a greater density of soap and hence a reservesoap supply for the outer portion of the pad.

3. An article of manufacture comprising a body of metal wool fibreshaving soap of the same character distributed throughout its extent intwo dilerent concentrations in two distinct portions of the body, theinner portion of the body having a soap concentration of greater densitythan the outer portion, and said outer portion wholly inclosing saidinner portion, the greater part of the soap in each portionA being inthe form of coatings about most of the libres and providing spacesbetween the coated fibres, said coatings being thicker in the innerportion so as to provide the denser soap concentration, and hence areserve supply of soap for the outer portion of the body.

GEORGE W. BR/OOKS.

